Forgetting Tomorrow
by jean boy
Summary: When they found three young unidentified children appearing out of nowhere, Tsunade wonders why the hell did they look so much like someone, or make it two people, that she knew. Then, the first one introduced himself: "I'm Shinichi Nara, the firstborn son of Sakura and Shikamaru Nara." And things, as they usually do, get complicated. ― AU-ish. Sakura/Shikamaru most likely.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note** : This came out of nowhere, I swear to God.

* * *

 **Forgetting Tomorrow  
** _Prologue_

* * *

Shinichi Nara rests silently on top of a large branch, balancing himself just well enough as he focuses silently to his breathing. Things were peaceful today, he makes a note mentally, never straining his eyes too much while he gazes on the scenery of the field before him, where a couple of some genins were practising—loud noises skims through the air, alerting possibly anyone who's nearby of their presence.

Shinichi doesn't make much of it.

"Hey." A voice behinds him comes, soft-sounding and familiar, and Shinichi quietly estimates where exactly his sister is without turning to find out. "Stalking much?"

A grin can't help itself from breaking out to be plastered on his usually cool face, finally craning his neck to face no other than Shikamai Nara herself. Half of her darkening pink hair tied behind in a braid, revealing the darker shade of brownish pink hue undercut she harboured underneath while her dark eyes gleam mischievously in greeting. Shinichi were, for a moment, tempted to roll his eyes—but have decided against it. "You wish."

"Creep."

"Jerk-face."

Shikamai snickers again, light and easy, before jumping over to stand on the branch that he's occupied—knowing full well he doesn't have to scream at her since she already probably has calculated and determined that judging from the size of the branch, it would have been able to withstand both Shinichi and her weights at the same time. She's smart like that. Always has been.

"No news?" He tries to not make it sound as gravely as it actually is—he's the eldest one here, he's _supposed_ to keep his cool—trying to bite onto his lips when he notices Shikamai flinching, even though they both know it's coming.

Shikamai looks solemn, no longer the look of the usual happy child she's so typically known for, eyes darkening. "No."

 _It's been a month_ , Shinichi could almost hear what they're not saying. _No. It's been over a month_. _Fifty seven days_. And the last they've heard of their parents were about thirty two days ago. They've come out with lots of scenarios why such things could be happening. They're smart kids, of course they would. Yet none of their theories were confirmed nor denied, not by a friend and certainly not by any of the high ranked officials. In addition, it can't helped that no matter their ranks—him, in the middle of partaking his jounin exams, and Shikamai, having only just passed her chunin exams two weeks ago (she'd have taken it sooner given if she wasn't easily distracted by possibly everything else in the world)—they were still seen as just kids. _Children_.

They've also been told to not cause any trouble than necessary (meaning, really: don't snoop and poke your genius little noses where they're not meant to be), straightly from the Hokage himself, and who were Shinichi or his siblings to rebel against such orders?

They refuse to tell them anything, only reassuring that their parents were—most likely—still alive.

At this point, Shinichi doesn't know what or who to believe.

"I miss them," Shikamai interrupts his thought sadly, looks onto the sky as though it would open up perhaps, and rain them the answers they sorely need.

"They're okay," Shinichi has to tell his sister—his _little_ sister—and maybe convincing himself along the process, never dwelling too much on the fact that they're still pretty much children. He's only a few months shy from officially aged to be seventeen, and she's only fifteen years old. And—sad it may be—they could be orphans. "They're mom and dad. They're _okay_."

Shikamai does this smile like she's trying to believe him—he hates that smile—and looks up ahead again without breaking the expression, not even once. Her optimism is rebuilding itself, he could feel it, and what once a hopeless smile a few seconds ago gradually turns gentler, kinder. Like mom's. God, she looks like mom so much. Except those eyes. Or when she sneers. That's something even Shinichi and their little brother, Asuma, share.

"Come on." Shikamai stands up then, looking smug, hands steady on her hips—eyes hardening in a raw determination that she could always find in dire situations, facing up against the wind like it's her natural enemy. "Let's go get Asuma, and then we can—"

"Go home?"

"Yeah." Shikamai huffs. "We'll make it clean, so mom doesn't have to nag about it when they come home."

He doesn't remind her that they've been cleaning the house—or have kept it clean since— the day mom and dad were supposed to arrive in the village, but didn't. Shinichi stands up, and, maybe, he's trying to comfort her again. Or himself. He's not very sure at this point. "They _will_ come home, you know."

"Of course I know that." Shikamai rolls her eyes, and starts jumping on another branch. " _They're mom and dad_ , stupid."

Shinichi scoffs, offended. "Jerk-face."

"Asshole."

"Race you to the village."

"The last one takes deer-feeding duty for the week!"

Shinichi wins.

* * *

 **End Note** : As of August 20 2015, 7:19 PM—due to deeper investigation, _Sayuri_ _Nara_ (the second child of Shikamaru and Sakura) has been changed to _Shikamai Nara_.


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note** : Changes have occurred. The character who was last referred as _Sayuri Nara_ in the last chapter has been safely changed to _Shikamai Nara_. You have been informed.

* * *

 **Forgetting Tomorrow  
** _Chapter 1_

* * *

They found them by the riverside— _soaked_ —and barely alive.

Tsunade doesn't know what to make of it. Nobody knew where they come from, who they are, and their chakras level had been too low for anybody to be correctly identifed. Either _that_ , or somehow these kids—these _children_ —have mastered the art of concealing their chakras even when they're perfectly unconscious. Tsunade doesn't know—and frankly—she doesn't care.

All that she knows are that when these kids were found, the oldest one were wearing the customary tunic with the Leaf band stitched to its fabric, and the girl had hers tied around her waist. _Leaf bands_. Shinobis. _Impostors_.

Could this truly be happening?

Dammit. And here she thought she was handling the Hokage title so very well.

"Have they found any evidence that the little one's a shinobi, himself?" She makes sure her agitation is known, while she listens to the taller man besides him fall into steps with her. Albeit quietly. Nearly even, dare she say it, deadly.

"The four year old kid?" Kakashi replies without a hitch to his voice; for someone who's just been dragged into the situation right after returning from a difficult mission, Tsunade has to give it to him. He sounds oddly cool. She means, their whole fucking should-be secured organisation might be compromised, and yet he's discussing the matter with a tone of no more importance than ordering a ramen with Naruto. How freaking— _swell_. "No, not yet. I don't think he is one."

"It could be a ploy."

Kakashi hums. "That's what they say."

Tsunade, as any wise Hokage would do, _huffs_. No, admittedly, that's not the response she'd wanted to hear, but before she could retort anything more on the matter, Shizune has appeared out of nowhere with a clipboard of _Impostor #1's_ in her hand, handing it obediently towards the Fifth while Tsunade practically snatches it, scanning her eyes quickly over the board. "Alright," she says to the two of them, "Let's see what these bastards want."

They go to _Impostor #1_ 's ward.

Well, it's a quarantined area. But—same difference.

"Should we bring any more people into this investigation?" Kakashi asks patiently while they walk down the near-empty halls, and Tsunade pretends he isn't trying to peer into the clipboard in her hands.

"No." She's thought of bringing the Yamanakas in, in case they fail to bring out anything out of these assholes, or even the Naras, but—better to keep it to a small number. And it has only been a few hours. If they should be more of these impostors posing as _her_ ninjas under _her_ nose, the best way she should approach this alarming situation is to not alert any of them that they've succeeded in catching their beloved peers. Glancing at _Impostor #3_ 's file—the estimated to be four-year-old one—Tsunade cringes her nose, wondering if the world has come to such a desperate point to risk the life of someone who predictably can't even properly form a whole speech of sentences just so they could infiltrate a village.

Or maybe she's gotten all of these wrong? But the medical results have shown that the child of the body is perfectly a child. No alteration, no visible marks, no some kind of magic technique or a fancy illusion to suggest the kid's secretly an adult whatsoever. Or could she be facing someone who's, like, God forbid, Kakashi himself? A protege at birth.

Tsunade glances at him, then answers with a clipped tone. "Not yet."

They walk into Impostor #1's ward, and Tsunade sniffs a bit at the chakra that has slowly waved off from the girl's body. Slowly stabilising herself, but—for some reason—still unrecognisable. She turns to the silver-haired man who never halts in his step, a crease appearing in between her brows: "Tell me if you've seen her anywhere."

And then they pull away the curtains.

"Funny," Kakashi remarks when Tsunade doesn't. "Pink hair."

The girl looks like—

"Have they checked her blood test?"

Tsunade swallows, but otherwise tries to keep her cool. Now, why does this feel so—strange, all of a sudden. Like, _creepy_ kind of strange. "They should be running it." Her tongue clicks, "I think I told Shizune to put Sakura's in charge of it."

"Sakura." Kakashi echoes, flicking on the nearly lifeless girl's hair, and Tsunade doesn't know but she's found relief when she realises that the nameless girl's hair has been a shade darker than Sakura's. Or otherwise, she would have looked exactly like—Kakashi interrupts her thoughts. "Could you tell me more about the other impostors?"

"It's assumed they're closely related biologically. Siblings, perhaps." Tsunade goes over the board, flipping the papers one by one without really looking at it. "If they are, this must be the middle child out of the three. The older male is the eldest. The four-year-old, the youngest."

"And I assume the older boy and the four-year-old is in separate chambers?"

"Hm," she snorts. "What do you think?"

"Pardon, my lady."

"Alright, come on." Tsunade sniffs again, looking away quickly. "Let's go to the second one."

And that's when things start to go sour. Tsunade immediately stiffens once she enters the room, and based on the look Shizune pass along, she knows it's the appropriate respond. "He's waking up, isn't he?" Tsunade bites without expecting a reply, knowing she's right, and mentally wrecks her mind in why that she's felt as though she's recognised this chakra before, yet nothing comes to mind.

The boy is pale. Baby fat still sticking to his sharp face, suggesting he's no more an adult than Naruto is, just probably younger in age. His physique suggests that he's not one to lack in exercises—tall, a bit muscular than your average teenager should be. His strength, Tsunade predicts, must contribute well to his duty as a shinobi. The faded bruises and marks only support more on the fact. His hair is dark. Shoulder-length. Spiky, somewhat.

Kakashi probes the boy.

"He's big," Tsunade comments, confirming now, as she inspects the boy's features further, that _Impostor #1_ and _Impostor #2_ might truly be siblings.

"Could it..." Kakashi voices out, pauses, then continues again, like he's contemplating a bit on his theory, wondering well if he should go on and share it with her. Well, now that he's started, he should damn well finish off that sentences. "Is it possible they're related to the Haruno's bloodline?"

"Just because one of them has a red hair?" Tsunade merely raises an eyebrow.

"Two, actually." Shizune announces from behind, and when Tsunade and Kakashi turns around, the other woman looks on steadily, explaining, "The other boy—the younger one—harbours the red hair trait too. But, uh, darker, of course. Darker than the girl's."

"That still doesn't proof anything."

"Of course," Kakashi retaliates calmly, his hand—now Tsunade's half-confirmed that the other man might've just been molesting the boy—stops at the area around the boy's neck, before his hand travels to dig something and pulling out a pendant. There's a circle-like object that's weighing the string of the pendant down, and Tsunade frowns from where she is, watches the silver-haired man. "Ah," he says. "Now it makes sense. Why the chakras been so familiar."

" _What?_ " In her voice, there's a sneer. Impatient.

Kakashi turns the circle-like shape around, revealing the pattern.

The Nara clan symbol.


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note** : I know I'm very slow with how I'm progressing into the story, but bare with me here. We'll probably have a fic featuring Shinichi and Tsunade next, explaining his origin and whatnot. And then, maybe, we'll see a chapter with Sakura in it.

* * *

 **Forgetting Tomorrow  
** _Chapter 2_

* * *

Asuma blinks helplessly at the man who's sitting by his bedside.

He looks to be sleeping—the man, not Asuma, of course—hands crossed over the front of his chest while he leans back into the plastic chair, chin toppled over his collarbones, silver hairs tipping down past his forehead protector. Maybe he should be afraid, Asuma thinks. He knows wherever he is, it's not his home. He doesn't see his brother or sister anywhere. The place he's been put in looks like a hospital. Gosh, Asuma likes the hospital. He remembers following Mom to work nearly everyday.

He knows it's pretty weird since hospital has very weird people in them, but it doesn't matter, he thinks. He likes them. The nurses are always nice to him. And the patients, while some are icky, are mostly interesting. And Asuma likes following Mom. He always tries his very best to not cause any trouble so Mom wouldn't be upset too with him. Just so Mom would wake him up the next morning and help him bathe, and then she'd always help him tie his shoes, because he can never seem to be good at that, and she'd peck his nose and he'd stand up and they'd walk hand-in-hand to the hospitals and he'll be a good boy, and try his best to not stray away from his mother too much (Mom doesn't like that. Dad doesn't like it either.) unless it's very serious and Mom has to put him in a room but that's okay too, because then Asuma could talk with all of the nice nurses there and they'd always let him do the Sudoku quizzes that _they_ could never manage to figure out, and then, when the day is nearly over, Mom would be over her desk, doing some last-minute paperworks and Asuma would look out the window.

And suddenly, he realises he misses Dad. And he misses Shinichi. And he misses Shikamai. And he'd call out, slowly, so Mom wouldn't be startled, "Mom?" and Mom would look over, blinks, looks out the window too and probably realises the same thing he does. And she'd nod, says something like, "It's time to go, isn't it?" and she'd put away her files and close all of her books and then she will come to him, and she will bend her knees a little and she will tell him that he's been a good boy, and that she loves him, and that it's time to go home.

And it will feel great.

But this is not the hospital. Or, at least, it doesn't feel like it's a hospital to him. It feels—isolated. More guards. Lots of people who are uncertain, worried. Some are even scared. It makes him feel— _well_. He really doesn't know what to feel. Not when he could feel that his brother might be in the next room.

So Asuma wiggles himself out of the huge blanket they drop over his small frame, trying to climb his way down when the man—the "sleeping" man—suddenly voices out. "Going somewhere?"

Asuma doesn't turn to the man, not that he was surprised, struggling to land himself correctly on the floor. _Ugh_ , he thinks absently, _did they make the bed higher so he can't reach the ground?_ They never do this whenever he goes to the hospitals before with mom!

The man, seeing his struggle, shifts, but make no further attempt to move. "You're going to fall, you know."

"My legs—" Asuma bites on his little tongue, dangling one leg from the bed. He doesn't want to fall. He'd made a promise to Dad not to hurt himself while Dad's away. And Dad's a good man—Asuma really likes Dad very much too—he'd hate to break a promise to a good man. "—are too small."

Asuma sniffs a little. That's what Chocho always tells him. That's why _she's_ always bigger, she'd say.

"Your legs are the appropriate size, I assure you." The man chuckles softly, and Asuma finally turns to him.

"Why won't you let me go, Kakashi-Sensei?"

The man stops chuckling, his eyes turning a shade darker in shock, but not too obviously because this man has never been good with those. Being obvious. Asuma doesn't necessarily need to see this reaction of course, not when he can always sense it. Asuma tries again, pouting: "Did I do something wrong?"

"You know me," Kakashi points out, like he's affirming it again, then regains a composure to suggest he's digesting this whole conversation. _Slowly_. "Little boy," Kakashi proceeds, tone a tad gentler, suggesting that he's practising friendly caution. And Asuma thinks about how strange the adult is acting, but knows that it's not his fault, that he isn't doing it on purpose. "What is your name?"

"Asuma." Asuma answers distractedly, "Kakashi-sensei, can I please see my brother now?"

"Your bro—" Kakashi pauses for a bit, but leans back against his plastic chair. "Your brother's pretty occupied, I'm afraid. The Hokage is speaking to him."

"Oh." His lips form an 'O' shape while he tries to scour around the room, finding any ways at all for him to slide off the bed without hitting his face against the floor. He is sure Shikamai would cry again if he starts bleeding some more. The cuts from where he'd fallen yesterday on his knees are yet to heal completely. He'd hate to worry her. "Is he in trouble?"

"He might be."

"Oh." He finds himself saying it again, then tips his chin back, feeling it funny all of a sudden now that his sharp hair is tickling the back of his neck. He turns to the silver-haired man, asks: "Am _I_ in trouble?"

Kakashi-sensei chuckles lowly—the kind of chuckle that Asuma is always fond of— his shoulders shaking a bit as he does so, but he shakes his head. Or perhaps he's shrugging. Asuma's still trying to figure out which is which. "I hope not. You seem like a good kid." Is all Kakashi-sensei says, letting his one eye fall on Asuma, while the five year old could only blink back expectantly, already anticipating a question—or at least a thought—to be shared from the older man to him. "Say, _Asuma_. How old are you again? Four?"

Asuma shrieks suddenly, personally insulted. "You're a funny man, Kakashi-sensei! I'm five! Don't you remember?" He wails, "You took me to catch fireflies in Granddad Nara's forest on the weekend of my birthday! You captured one that was _so_ _huge_ —" Asuma starts to laugh, too distracted now to think of a way to escape the room as his young mind flashes back to the memory, "—and you called it fat and it tried to attack you and Shikamai was screaming for you to not kill it and we named it Hajime and even though it attacked you, you still set it free because you said it's not fair to put it in a jar for too long or else he'll _die_."

Kakashi finds himself smiling, looking down at the enthusiastic face of the five-year-old, and recognising the boy's chakra to be calm and true. The boy, so far, had been honest. Either that, or somebody has done an excellent job to hijack the boy's poor memory strips. Kakashi considers this. And Asuma can see that the man is thinking, conflicted.

Asuma suddenly realises back again where he is. And he's afraid. But he closes his eyes and imagine Dad's face. Or Shinichi's. And he imagines what they would say. How Dad would tug on his hair and tells him that _it's okay_. And he'll think about how brave Shikamai would be if she's ever in this situation, and how smart Mom would handle it. And he thinks about Grandfather Haruno's laughter that's roughen due to his habit of smoking tobacco, or how Grandma Haruno is proud of her little garden. And he thinks about Grandma Nara who serves the best of teas. And about the old lady who sell candies and have a son with a scar twice bigger than her hand. About a crazy old man who lives in the hospital waiting for his dead wife to visit him because he never seems to remember being the one who buried her. And his Uncle and Aunts and Chocho who slips him chocolates when her mom's not watching.

And somehow Asuma is not so afraid anymore.

"You don't remember, do you?" He murmurs, because that's the truth—because Asuma senses the uncertainty, the _doubt_ —and chews on his lips. "I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei." Maybe he feels sorry for Kakashi-sensei, maybe that's why he apologises. It must be sad to not remember the people that you love. Asuma likes to think that Kakashi-sensei has loved Asuma very much before.

"Asuma. You knew I wasn't sleeping, didn't you?"

He nods his head silently, because sometimes people would ask him these questions—about how he know stuff when he does. Grandfather Nara says he's a naturally strong sensor type, which, he thinks, must be a good thing because Grandfather would look like he's almost proud even though Asuma could never tell. Still though, Grandma would say that _no, it's more than that_ and they would argue, and none would win and Dad will say it's "troublesome" (Those are dad's favourite words.) and Mom would chuckle, sneaking a kiss to Dad's jaw and Asuma would be very confused. And these type of questions will never help, because honestly, Asuma is clueless. Sometimes he just happens to know stuff. He can't help it.

But how do you explain that to people who likes complicated answers?

"Do you want to see your brother?" Kakashi-sensei asks suddenly and Asuma blinks, before nodding his head vigorously.

"May I?"

"What would you do then," He asks some more, "Your brother and you. Once you've united?"

Asuma thinks about this, chewing continuously on his lips before blowing away the fallen lengthening rosewood-coloured hair from his face. "I'm pretty hungry," he answers honestly, patting his stomach, silently thinking about how if Chocho were here, he'd ask her if she has any snacks with her. Or candies. Chocho like candies very much. "So, I'm sure Shinichi is hungry too. Maybe we'd search for Shikamai first. Then we'll go eat. Have _you_ eaten anything, Kakashi-sensei?"

"I have, thank you." Kakashi responds back politely, taking his time to stand up. Asuma follows his stance. "I will talk to the Hokage, but you have to promise to not cause any trouble when I'm gone, or else it will be more difficult for you to see either your brother or sister."

Asuma contemplates this, then asks: "We're in a _big_ trouble, aren't we, Kakashi-sensei? That is very troublesome, because I don't remember doing anything bad."

"Honestly, Asuma, I don't know."

"Alright then, I'll be good. Thank you, Kakashi-sensei." Asuma tries to smile, "Take care."

* * *

 **End Note** : We finally had a chance to be introduced to Asuma Nara, whom of which I'm still trying to develop _extremely_ slowly. So, we'll see where that'll end up at. Also, in this chapter, I've included some characters like _Chocho_ , who is the daughter of Choji, and is expectantly to be around seven years old. That's the only thing I'm taking as canon, to be honest. Oh, and, I don't know if it shows but she's also Asuma's best friend. Other characters (all of which are OCs) that will be mentioned are: _Inodai_ and _Inoko_ , who are fraternal twins (one male and one female), children to Ino. They're fifteen years old. The father to Ino's children can be whoever you wish it to be—Kiba, Sasuke, Sai etc. I don't mind really, go crazy with it. Choji also has an older son named _Chojun Akimichi_ , who is more or less fifteen years old.

And there's a reason why Asuma calls Kakashi with _Kakashi-sensei_. And, well, I'll guess we'll unravel that in the next chapter or whenever. Thank you for those who have reviewed, favorited and followed this story. It means the whole world to me :)


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Note** : A quick update before life pulls me back again and tries to drown me with its misery. Next, we may see Sakura.

* * *

 **Forgetting Tomorrow**  
 _Chapter 3_

* * *

When Shinichi was younger, they told him he suffered a terrible asthmatic condition—he doesn't remember much of it. He remembers the pain, sure, how he's cursed his lungs for failing to do the one thing it should, how worried his parents had looked. He remembers feeling like dying, yet his body twisted and turned to fight for his existence to last—a burning war constantly being ignited within the spaces under his ribcages, before his mother finds a way to fix it, to ensure the safety of her own son and Shinichi begins learning to get comfortable with forgetting.

When he wakes up, it feels like all of his mother's effort has washed itself down the drain; his lungs set afire, his throat sore from emitting a soundless scream.

"Calm down, calm down." A voice interrupts his raging thoughts—a female, he recognises—before he closes his eyes, tries to sort his mind carefully. It is bright, he assess. And it's warm. And he feels sticky. Shinichi concentrates on breathing normally again. "That's it," the voice says again, soothingly, and Shinichi finally takes in on the hands that are poking his body. "You're okay. You're alive."

 _Alive_.

That's right.

There was a moment just seconds ago, he thinks, where he'd turned over and saw Asuma being drifted away—until he's gone—and Shinichi was certain that they'd die. _What happened?_ His head starts to hurt just thinking, and he winces. _Where's Asuma? Shikamai? Where are they?_

"Asuma—"

"Calm down." The voice tells him again, leaning over sideways to check on something. "He's stabilising himself. His blood pressure is slowly returning to normal."

"So, he can talk, right?" Another voice—female too, yet with a stronger edge to it—snaps, but doesn't seem on bothering to wait for the answer. "Right. Good. Let's get this over with. Prop him up."

Shinichi decides he won't say another word, focusing instead on his surroundings while trying to ease the pain from his lungs using whatever's left of his chakra. It's a small ward that he's been put in, and, based on what he can see, he'd like to say that he's in a hospital, but it doesn't look quite right. And these people were angry with him. Or, at least, the lady who's currently glaring him down is.

"Do you know where you are?"

Shinichi doesn't, not really. But he doesn't think that answer would suffice. The glaring lady looks a bit more agitated when she realises that he's choosing to keep his mouth shut and immediately proceeded to ask her next question.

"Do you know who I am?"

And it is then Shinichi finally notices the Strength of a Hundred Seal embed on the woman's forehead—the same seal his mother manages to obtain—and is suddenly washed by a mixed feelings of confusion and shock. He doesn't mind letting his emotion slip, doesn't mind when the woman's eyebrow crooked in interest at his reaction. As far as he knows, he hasn't done anything wrong. And he'll stand by that.

"Where am I?" He croaks, but the woman ignores him completely, dumping instead some of the few belongings of his on the bed near his toes.

"You were spotting _this_ —" She holds out his flak jacket, pointing towards the forehead protector, or what's left of it (which is basically the symbol of the village) with a roughness that make Shinichi twitches, "—stitched to your flak jacket when we found you. Do you know what this means?"

"Yes," he begins curiously. "I am a shinobi from the Leaf Village."

The woman looks more unhappy, if that's possible. "And do you know where you are now?"

He decides on not answering again at the repetitive question, but then reconsiders his situation; for a second even wondering if he'll be able to bring down all of the seven—no, eight—people in the room but immediately tears down the idea when he weighs back all of the variables. He'll play this out to see where it ends up, then he'll probe for anything that might give him an information to where his siblings might be at. "No."

"You're in Konohagure's safe custody, boy. And let me tell you something—" The woman nearly growls, "You are not one of us."

He frowns then, _hard_ , and spots something reeling in the woman's eyes before it's masked down, and she turns away, picking up on something from, what he assumes, is the evidence box. He wonders if his rubber band is in there. "Normally, we'd just label you as an impostor—which, well, we actually did—until we manage to identify your chakra."

And then Shinichi realises she's holding out the pendant Mom gave him, and instinctively, he holds out to his collarbone as though to truly feel its absence, staring at the dangling thing.

"You're of Nara clan."

This time, Shinichi hears a low growl being let out, until he realises that it's his doing, and he tries calming the on going rage. _Control_. He won't get anywhere if he allow his emotions to judge for him. And suddenly, Shinichi hears Dad, like they're back on the open field, and the old man's training him, and he's just thirteen and Dad doesn't have that burn that begins at his nape which disappears down his back yet, and everything's normal. Everything's okay.

The woman glowers, yanking him simply out of his trance, and Shinichi takes a deep breath down his still-burning chest. _Control_. He reminds himself, and continues to stare.

"Yet we find no evidence that you've existed." At this, Shinichi genuinely frowns in utter confusion, and the woman actually sighs, like she's done being intimidating—her body leaking nothing but nerves and frustration—curling the pendant and ensuring the disappearance of the proud Nara insignia within her palm. "Care to explain?"

"I don't understand." Shinichi replies honestly, never giving up on the frown. "What do you mean there is no evidence of my existence?" There is a moment he nearly recites back of his basic profile—where he was born, _when_ he was born—but he holds his tongue, wanting to be explained.

"It means that there are no records, no sightings, no documents to suggest you were alive for the past two decades." She seethes, "As a Hokage, it's my job to keep track of every clan in the village, or well, _most_ of it, especially those with a long history of raising shinobis in them—or have, at least contributed to it either financially, medically or otherwise. The Nara being one of them. And yet, we find absolutely nothing about you. _Nothing_. Nobody have ever seen you, or have heard of you, and frankly kid, the only thing that's keeping me from jabbing a knife down your throat is that your chakra has been constant. You _are_ a Nara."

"Wait," Shinichi interjects, brows furrowing together in deep concentration, recalling back on what she'd say: "You mention you're the Hokage. That... that can't be. You can't be the Hokage."

" _Why the fuck not?_ " The so called Hokage remarks frustratedly, pushing her chest forward while crossing her arms under it, showing her annoyance with a certain flawlessness Shinichi rarely sees.

"Because the Hokage is supposed to be Uncle Naruto." He tells her boldly, meaning it. "Naruto Uzumaki. And you're not— _shit_."

The annoyance doubles. "Excuse me?"

"Did he just say _Naruto Uzumaki_?" A voice murmured from the sidelines while watching the exchange and Shinichi feels like an earth has just collapsed on his back.

"Is he _serious_?" Another foreign voice chirps in.

He plasters his palm against the side of his temple, feeling the moisture beginning to form while his mind does the thing where it does whenever everything is falling into pieces, but drastically—like trying to match puzzle pieces in a reckless fashion since you know how it's supposed to look like. He begins to list one thing after the other, "If you're the Hokage... the only female in history... the seal... the one who trained... it can't be... impossible..." And then, clutching his temples, "Dammit. What _happened_?"

"Calm down," the first female voice droops in. "Your blood pressure is picking up again."

Right. He forgot to do the thing where he has to breathe.

Shinichi lets out a deep breath, then, summoning all of the strength he has, props his chin up, asking: "If you don't mind me asking, could you... Would it be possible that you are Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village?"

"So you _do_ know who I am," Tsunade says it in a 'tch'-like tone, before raising a brow. "Boy?"

"I-I apologise." He tries to bow down as much as his body permits him to do with his condition on the bed, his skull pounding a bit while his mind goes through his theory again, wondering secretly if it could be true. Or perhaps it's a dream. A weird, sickening dream. "I didn't... I wasn't _aware_ of who exactly I was faced against. I didn't mean—" Shinichi swallows, feeling the heat rising to his cheek, absently thinking of how embarrassed his mother would be if she'd ever learnt how disrespectful he'd just been to her mentor. "I'm sorry."

He sits a bit straighter, but now refuses to make eye-contact, his green eyes instead travels down to his twitching fingers and he expands it, just a bit, to check if it's real. If _he's_ real. "If... if you don't mind me overstepping my boundaries, I'd like to share a theory."

"What theory?"

"Of why I'm here." He's still looking at his hands. "Of who I am."

Tsunade hums. "Proceed."

"Before that," a new voice comes in, and Shinichi could've sworn it was his heart that's jumped at the familiarity of it. And then he spots the silver hair, and Shinichi has to hold himself from crying. Kakashi looks on steadily, "I think it'd be best if the rest of this... uh, _conversation_ is to be shared within the three of us. Or perhaps four? If you so wish to include Shizune, that is, milady."

"Kakashi," Tsunade clicks her tongue. "How long have you been eavesdropping in our interesting exchange?"

"Just long enough." The masked shinobi smoothly responds, and Shinichi thinks the man might've just winked at him. The Fifth then gives a signal, and the rest of the people in the room begin to filter out—until it's left to only Shinichi, Kakashi, Lady Tsunade and Shizune, whom of which Lady Tsunade stops when she had try to follow the crowd.

"You know me, don't you?" Kakashi comes forward once it's confirmed that there is nobody else but the four of them in the room, and Shinichi ignores the heat of the Fifth's calculating stare when his mind ponders over the silver-haired man's question.

"I—" Shinichi nods solemnly. Where he had grew up, Kakashi was his mentor. And in an extent to that, a mentor towards Shikamai and young Asuma too. Just like the guy had been towards Mom, Uncle Naruto and Mr. Uchiha once upon a time ago. Except Kakashi-sensei has shared a deeper bond with Asuma, being the godfather and all. "I do."

"Don't worry." Kakashi tells him, "Explain your theory. I'm sure you have a good one."

Shinichi stares, unsure.

"When you're done, you will be able to see your siblings."

"They're—" He suddenly finds his voice. "They're here?"

"Kakashi, what the hell?" The Fifth barks.

"I apologise, milady. But I think—" The masked shinobi gestures lamely, "—once the boy explained, it will be clear. Please, Tsunade-sama. _Trust me_."

Despite the sudden revelation of the heavy tension in the air, Shinichi has to admit that those words do encourage him, even if it's not a lot. Yes. Right. He just has to remember how to breathe. And then, he'll see Shikamai and Asuma. Kami, he hopes they're okay. "I'm—" he starts, finding the courage his parents have proudly inherited to him, and finds it in himself to stop trembling, staring up ahead. "I'm Shinichi Nara, the firstborn son of Shikamaru and Sakura Nara. And, though it is still unclear to me of what happened, I think my siblings and I were brought back to the past from the future. And based by the Hokage who's reigning right now, I think we've just travelled at least 20 years worth of time. Maybe more. We don't come here on purpose. That, at least, I'm very certain of. And no, before you ask, there isn't anybody that I know of who can manipulate time—so it may be a trap, or time flux. Whichever. And we—" Shinichi bows his head, "My siblings and I have no intention to harm. We will give you our full corporation if that's what you'll need. I know it's not much to work by, but I have no reason to lie. I hope you can trust us. Or trust _me_."

Tsunade is quiet for a long time, before—"And why should I trust _you_?"

"Because you can feel it, don't you?" Shinichi raises his head to smile sadly, feeling sad and guilty all of a sudden. "Shikamai looks just like Mom."

There is a long, long pause followed by an exasperated rage of breathing and the Fifth pinches the bridge of her nose, like she can't believe she's about to say what she's going to say, "Shizune. Get Sakura off the damn blood samples. Call in Shikaku and get Inoichi's last medical report by my desk in exactly twenty minutes. We might need him. This is no longer an investigation. I'm declaring it an A-rank mission, thus no words of what's happened here can come out of this room once I walk out of here unless I exclusively gave you the permission to do so, and Kakashi? Congratulations, you're leading it."

Lady Tsunade briefs some more while Shizune retreats him back his rubber band that's accustomed for every Nara male in particular to fashion with, alongside with the pendant that's been with him ever since he could remember. The Fifth fully expects to have every medical and basic reports of Shinichi and his other two siblings by the end of the day, which, she points out rather repetitively, is something Kakashi severely needs to make sure of happening.

"Your brother has already woken up, but I think he's fallen asleep since Kakashi left him about an hour ago." Tsunade informs him pointedly, signing something on a clipboard. "Your sister is expected to wake up in two-three hours, give or take. Shizune will inform you when that happened."

"Thank you," Shinichi smiles gladly, silently thankful that his siblings hasn't suffered worse fates. "May I... see them?"

Tsunade makes another disgruntled noise, stabbing the pain against the clipboard again. "Maybe," she says, "We'll see."

 _Well_ , Shinichi tries to stay optimistic, _at least it's not a no_.

"Fifth, wait," he calls when he sees the Hokage already turning to walk out of the ward, "My parents... They're...?"

Tsunade hesitates, and Shinichi feels something flips in his stomach. "Your mother's in the hospital, working. For now, she doesn't know that any of you are here. And if it can be helped, she won't ever. Your father—Shikamaru—is currently on a mission. He should be back by the end of the week."

"I'm glad." Shinichi releases, nodding his head slowly. "And are they— _you know_ —?"

 _In a relationship?_

"No," It was Kakashi who answers, all the while reading into his favourite perverted series. "I don't think so. I think Shikamaru might even be seeing someone else right now."

 _Yes_ , Shinichi thinks, already predicting such answer. He expects much so. Based on the stories Mom and Aunt Ino likes to retell again and again, both Dad and Mom take their time at falling for one another. It was supposed to be sweet, he guess. Though considering Shinichi and his siblings' situation right now—it certainly won't help.

"Shikamaru and Sakura." Kakashi whistles. "Who would've thought, huh?"

"Yes," The Fifth surprisingly retorts. "Who would've thought."

She left, and Kakashi quickly pulls out some rice balls. "Hungry?" He asks when he meets Shinichi's wide gaze, "I thought so."

* * *

 **Author's Note** : If you'd like to see how _I_ see Shinichi, Shikamai and Asuma, I've put up a link of a drawing my friend helped me with. I don't know if it works since FFNET hates me or something, but if it isn't just tell me so and I'll try to fix it. Thank you for the read, and as always, a review would be highly appreciated *wink* :)


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: I never thought I'd manage to put Shikamaru in this chapter, but I guess my brain likes them too much to not go through with the original plan. Next chapter, we might be bringing in Shikaku Nara and have some legitimate Nara moments. Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno would also be making an appearance, and the siblings have to figure out a suitable home arrangement, now that they might be staying this timeline a little bit longer. Hm...**

* * *

 **Forgetting Tomorrow  
** _Chapter 4_

* * *

 _Four days earlier_...

"I'm so sorry I'm late!" Sakura bellows as soon as she pushes open the door, green eyes gliding over the clipboard at hand while she eyes the horrible marking of whatever the last doctor who's done the reports wrote as a summary of the whole post-mission medical check up.

"Tch." Shikamaru waves it off, and only then does Sakura actually looks up, smiling brightly at the lazy genius when she identifies to his lame posture, sitting awkwardly on the examination table. It's good to see somebody familiar who _isn't_ affiliated to the hospital around when she could. "Busy day?"

"More like _just_ the morning." Sakura scoffs, going over to her desk for a second to put away other patients' medical report. "I've got to handle a genin who overpowered himself with his chakra and nearly got burnt off because of that, and not to mention I possibly am having a patient that has a stroke attack every one other hour, but with no obvious cause to it. So yeah. Busy."

Shikamaru makes an act to look outside the window, frowning. "Sakura," he voices out, tone half-annoyed and the other half questioning. "It's nearly three in the evening."

"Oh, really?" Sakura tries to sound surprised, which isn't working, tapping her pen against the clipboard.

Shikamaru only raises his eyebrow.

She smiles gingerly, glad that he's no Ino nor her own father to start mentioning on about how 'attached' she's been with her work lately, later on yapping about how she needs to take a rest or a long vacation, or, Ino's most favourite words: get laid sometimes. Honest to Kami, those things doesn't really bother her, the fact that people kept pointing out that she might have loved her job very much. It's that when people act like she _doesn't know_ that fact herself that makes her slightly annoyed by the whole ordeal.

Of course she's very well aware she's a... eh, a _hard worker_. People need to calm down. Sakura knows when to take her rest, to take care of herself. Geesh! Bless Shikamaru and his laziness. Or else Sakura might have another mother hen to shoo away. "Alright," she says, standing up, putting up on her best professional smile. "So, you're going on a mission in a few days."

"Tomorrow," Shikamaru corrects her, scratching the back of her neck. "The Hokage just moved the date this morning. Tch. What a drag."

"Of course it is," Sakura says fondly, shaking her head a bit at his usual trademark, feeling slightly lighter when she realises that—oh, it's been a while, isn't it? Since she's even seen the lazy genius. They weren't very _close_ per se, but Shikamaru once taught her to play shogi during one of their rare missions together, and, well, Sakura thinks it's nice. Well, they kind of got scolded for it when Shino mentioned it in his report—they were _really_ supposed to look after their client—but it happened. There's nothing either can do to change it.

Actually, now that Sakura's thinking about it: as incredibly unenthusiastic as Shikamaru is, he's an _excellent_ partner whenever Sakura needs someone to hold an intelligent conversation with. It's really great, because there aren't a lot of people who can keep up with what she tries to say sometimes.

"It says here you were diagnosed with a high fever straightly after returning from your last mission, which was..." Sakura checks the date, "Three weeks ago. How are you feeling now?"

"Fine." Knowing those answer wouldn't suffice as soon as it's left his mouth, Sakura hears him grunt, probably thinking about how _troublesome_ this whole thing was. Really, this guy could be such a comical fellow sometimes. "I finished the pills, even ate it at the time when I'm supposed to."

"Have you ever felt like vomiting, or well, actually did?"

"Sure. But then Mother threatened to beat me into the afterlife if I don't get better, so naturally, I suck it up."

Sakura raises an eyebrow at that, while Shikamaru immediately looks away, a hint of pink rising to his cheeks. She tries to keep her chuckle at a minimal, silently grateful that the check-up is going better and smoother than she's expected it. Not that she's actually... been expecting it. In fact, she has completely forgotten about it haven't one of the nurse told her that the youngest of Nara has showed up for his appointment. But it's been slow, almost lazy, the atmosphere now that she's here. A completely calmer pace with what she's been going at for the last week. "Your mother sounds very... _convincing_. And lovely, of course."

"Yeah..." He scratches the side of his neck, then looks at her sharply. "It's because of _you_ , she insists on me making an appointment with you, you know."

"What?" Sakura furrows her brows together as she turns, picking up on a stethoscope. "What did I do now?" She tries to sound childish, just to see if it would annoy him. It does, she thinks.

"She told me about your little bump-in at the market." Shikamaru sounds unhappy, "Troublesome."

Sakura immediately whacks him with her pen. He winces.

"What? What bump-in, you baka— _oh_. Oh, that. Right. I've forgotten all about that." Sakura immediately smile, recalling back on the twenty minute she spent listening to one Yoshino Nara briefing her about all of the different spices she could use to cook several meals. She actually didn't mean it to expand to twenty minutes but what once was her actually running straight into Mrs Nara—to which she apologised profusely while picking up Mrs Nara stuff, before the older woman identifies the ingredient in Sakura's basket—had turned into a mini cooking session that had helped tremendously when Sakura has successfully cooked the ultimate challenge that very night: curry! "She remembers me?"

"Of course she does. She remembers everything." Shikamaru says that like it's a grudge. "She's a bit disappointed to find out you're a shinobi, though."

"Yeah, I noticed that too." Sakura says nonchalantly, like she's acknowledging a fact, patting his chest in a way to ask him to sit straighter. He does.

It's when Sakura presses the stethoscope to his chest that he says, "Or else she'd be running to gun down my door and tack me to the wall until I agree to marry you."

Surprisingly though, Sakura laughs, while Shikamaru seems to be shrinking in size, muttering something along the line of ' _troublesome_ ' under his breath. When she could finally control herself again, Sakura wipes a single tear from the corner of her eyes, patting his chest once more and pressing the stethoscope again. "So she wants you to marry a civilian?"

"Preferably," Shikamaru shrugs. "She comes from a civilian family. But I don't see any difference to it, to be honest. All women are—"

"Are—?" Sakura interjects, giving him an expression to dare him to proceed the rest of that sentence with caution.

Shikamaru noticeably tenses. "Are lethal."

"Nice safe there, dangerous man." Sakura laughs again, then instructs him: "Breathe in." She nods her head when Shikamaru's heartbeat continues to beat in a rather calming pace, and she moves the stethoscope to his back, satisfied. "So, no nausea or headache or anything similar to those symptoms?"

"No." He tells, then perks a bit like he just remember something, raising his arms up to look at an area on his forearm. "Choji kind of stabbed me with a pen yesterday. Bled a bit more than I expected. But eh. I don't think it's serious."

"Did you wash the wound?"

He shakes his head. "I put a bandaid on it."

"Right, but just in case..." She signals him to peel the plaster off while she rolls away, on her swivel chair, to her desk, putting away her stethoscope. He slowly picks on the bandaid, and tries not to wince when his skin suffers as he tug the sticky thing off. "That's a pretty deep stab, Shikamaru. For a pen, that is."

"Yeah. Troublesome." Guess he doesn't want to go into details.

"Alright. I'm going to close in on the wounds now, okay?" She says to him like he's a child, carefully wrapping her hands around his forearm. Shikamaru breathes in. And in the next second, Sakura could feel her chakra flows, until she's certain that his skin has finally healed on itself. "Look at that. Good as new." She proudly says, more to herself than him, and rolls away again to fetch a mineral water. The amount of chakra she's used may be little, but that doesn't mean she can't be too careful. Hydrating one's self is a very important aspect of life, she likes to think.

"Let's get to your blood pressure, then we'll check if there's any sign of that fever left before I can sign on your form to tell the Hokage that you're physically fit for your next mission. That sounds good to you?"

"Sure, let's just get this over with."

Sakura rolls her eyes.

The rest of the appointment goes on swiftly. Shikamaru complaints, here and there, but since he understands how necessary this procedure it, mostly he keeps his mouth shut. He's been pleasant, and Sakura tries not to let the fact that she hasn't eaten anything get in the way of the check up. "Alright, medically speaking, you're a perfectly healthy guy, Shikamaru." She says, as she jots something down on the form with his name splattered on the top of it.

He smirks a bit at that, seemingly smug. "Thanks."

"You should do more doctor's appointments, you hear me? Not necessarily with me, of course, if you don't want to. The hospitals may not have a lot of doctors, but we've got a few great staff here that will have no problem into taking the time to examine you."

"Tch. Too troublesome."

She whacks him again. This time, with her clipboard. "Yeah, I'd like to hear you say that when you find yourself rotting with what you're doing with that lung of yours!"

"As if you don't smoke yourself." He scoffs.

"That was like, _two_ times! Fine, maybe three. And I was stressed." She thinks back about those dark days, shivers, swearing on her life it won't repeat again. Not if she can help herself. Sticking her tongue out at him, she proceeds: "You're a bad influence, Nara."

The smirk on his face grows.

"But no seriously, checking periodically on how's your body doing will benefit you more than it'll do you harm, Shikamaru." She says, handing him the form to say he's okay to go to his next mission. "Think about it alright?"

"Hn," he hums, finally standing up. "Thanks."

"Don't die out there, dangerous man."

"Tch. Here." He pockets something from one of the pouches of his flak jacket and toss it over on her desk—until Sakura realises it's a small bag of chips. BBQ flavoured. She blinks at it for a moment, for the first time never really knowing what to say, and finally hears him mutter: "See you later, Sakura." With that, he finally leaves.

That was four days ago.

It's surprising how short the days could go for her. Nothing much has happened after that. She finally takes the chips from Shikamaru as a queue to go down to the the cafeteria and get herself an apple before continue working for the rest of the day. She means, she knows the unexpected act from the youngest of Nara is probably prompted by Ino's probings or something, but _still_ —it feels like she's hit a certain low point when even Shikamaru's subtly pointing it out for her to take a better care of herself.

Doesn't mean she'll be dropping everything and crawl to her bed or anything like that, because, _gosh_ , there's still so much to do in the hospital—but she's eating now. Or she's trying to.

Four days later, it's been reported that the village might be infiltrated and the next thing Sakura knows, she's been shoved a handful of blood samples for her to identify after, only to be told about three hours later that she won't have to be doing it after all.

"Wait, so I'm off the investigation?"

"Yes," Shizune nods swiftly, eyes never wavering as its held by Sakura's bright green ones, before the older woman moves to pick up more forms. "The Hokage has decided to open the investigation to only a certain small number of people."

"And I'm not on it." Sakura points out—not entirely mad nor was she that curious. If she were to be honest, she's merely just baffled. Never have the Fifth ever does pull something like this—directly ordering her to do something, yet change her mind just as Sakura was about to do it—so, yes. It's all very confusing.

"Yes."

"Any reason?"

"Yes, but it's not something I can tell you." Shizune gives her a small apologetic smile, and Sakura numbly nods, fiddling with her latex gloves. So, Shizune can't tell her. Things must have gone serious. "See it this way," Shizune says some more, "Now you have less things to worry about. I know you've barely gotten any proper sleep for the last five days."

That was only because Sakura has been up observing a man who'd have a cardiac arrest every five seconds.

"I'm fine," Sakura finally dismisses, never really been keen to acknowledge the fact that she's, well—a workaholic—and proceed to take the blood samples from storage. "Well, here. This is patient number one's blood, the second, and the third. These are the datas they've manage to give to me, which, I don't know if you know, isn't a lot."

"Yes, I'm aware."

"I haven't gotten the chance to examine it, since you stopped me... Are you sure you don't need me to—?"

 _I'm a damn good doctor_ , she didn't add. _Or, well. I'd like to think that I am_.

"Sakura," Shizune's voice is a gentle mix of stern and exhaustion, something Sakura has been accustomed to herself, before she say: "Thank you, but until there's any new development, the decision has been decided."

"Okay," Sakura slowly steps down, "Alright."

"You're tired, you should go home. I'm sure Tsunade-sama would understand."

"Right." Sakura lets out, "Wait, no, I still have a few paperworks that needed to be... you know what? Maybe I'll take you up on the offer."

Shizune seems surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah, I don't think I have actually seen my apartment lately." Or Naruto. Or Ino. Kami, it feels like she's been stuck in this building for a _decade_. Her back certainly doesn't make an effort to deny the hyperbole—not when the ache is particularly intensifying right now. "But—uh—I'll be here first thing in the morning, if that's alright?"

"If you can manage, sure." Shizune smiles, now shuffling more reports.

Sakura finally packs her things and leave. She opens the bag of chips Shikamaru gives her and nibble on one while she's walking out, suddenly is taken aback when her body identifies with the warmth of the sunset cascading gently on her bare skin. She shivers involuntarily, stares a bit more as she recognises the adults and children who were walking by, thinking exactly about the last time she's walked out of the hospital _before_ it's nightfall. Noticing a headache rising, Sakura takes the first step and turn on her heels straight to where her apartment is. Maybe, she thinks absently: she can finally do the dishes that's been calling out to her since last weekend.

Wow.

Maybe it _has_ been a decade since she's left the hospital. Why does she feel so old all so suddenly?

"Hey Sakura!" A new voice interrupts her train of thoughts when she finally spots it's Naruto, her heavy heart losing its weight and she realises that no, she's perfectly in her correct timeline. "Sakura! Sakura!" Besides him, Sakura realises, stand Sai lankily.

"Hey, you guys!" She feels like laughing and crying all at the same time. "Hi, it's been so long hasn't it?"

Naruto immediately pouts. "Yes it has! We were just about to check on you! Sai was ready to drag you out of the hospital—"

"Completely by force."

"But I'd like to think it more as _persuading_ , you know?"

"Ugly, you look like shit."

"Sai!" Naruto chides, like he's barrating a disobedient pet.

"Hah," Sakura breathes, pursing her lips while she cocks her hips to the side. "Surprisingly, I actually miss that."

"Don't mind him, Sakura! He's just being stupid! I think you look very pretty. Well, I mean, you look like you're worn out. But still," Naruto blinks his wide eyes, reassuring her, "Pretty! So, what are you doing out of the hospital? Did grandma personally kicked you out of it again?"

"What? No." Sakura internally groans. That happened _one_ time! "Well, no, not exactly. I was supposed to do some blood samples that she sent over, but she decided last minute that I shouldn't do it. So Shizune told me I could leave early."

"And you walk out of the hospital on your own? Voluntarily?"

"Maybe she's been hallucinated." Sai suggests.

"I'm not being hallucinated. I'm perfectly doing everything on my own free will." She tells those two boys, now continuing her pace to her apartment. She naturally offers the bag of chips to Naruto and Sai, and watch as Naruto happily digs his hand to snatch three. "I guess I just realise that I'm tired. Plus, I need to do some laundry and the dishes need to be washed. I can't keep sending all of my dirty clothes to my mother, you know."

"You send dirty clothes to your mom?" Naruto asks interestedly.

"Only when I'm desperate."

"I'm desperate all the time Sakura!" Naruto suddenly wails. "Can I send dirty clothes to your mother too?"

"You baka." Sakura resists the urge to hit the blond with her mighty fist. "Anyway, I'm not supposed to do that. I'm a grown woman. I've got to stop relying on my parents or else it'd be like I've never left their house. Hence, I'll do my laundry tonight."

"Maybe you should take a day off tomorrow?"

"What!" Sakura yelps, clearly offended. "Naruto, are you insane!?"

"Come _on_ Sakura. It's been a while since any of us have ever seen you. The other day Ino makes a joke about how the universe might as well be swallowing you whole, and we wouldn't be searching because we'd assume you're rotting away in your office." Naruto pauses, " _Are_ you rotting in your office?"

"No! Ino-Pig is crazy! You should've never listened to her." Sakura argues. "The universe won't swallow me whole. I'd fight for it. There's still so many things I need to do."

"Yes! That's right!" Naruto beams proudly. "I'd fight for you too! I'd fight for all of us!"

"Yes." Sai agrees lamely, nodding his head once in approval. "I would consider fighting for Ugly's continuous existence."

Sakura rolls her eyes.

"Hey Sakura, have you heard about the impostors?"

"Impostors?"

"They say there're three of them, masking as one of our own. You know. _Shinobi_." Naruto looks scandalous while Sakura frowns, wondering if these are the same people that the Hokage has told her to check their blood samples for, until, well, she's being pulled out of the whole thing, that is. "Kiba was the one who found them."

"Oh?" Sakura finally responds, clearly interested.

"Yeah, but I guess the ANBU threatens him or something, because he says he's not allowed to discuss his findings to other people. That still kinda didn't stop him though. He said that one of them is a kid. Just a kid, Sakura! He's a kid and he's already infiltrating a village! Is that possible? Do you think it is?"

Sakura frowns, hard, wondering if these are all true. Thinking about how Shizune seems adamant on not talking about the investigation, Sakura finally decides on saying, "Maybe there's a reason why he's not supposed to talk about it."

"Tch." Naruto pouts childishly, "I can't believe grandma's keeping it as a secret. We have the right to know, Sakura! We can search for more of them if there is!"

"Naruto, calm down. I'm sure the shishou has a plan for it, if it's true."

"Of course it is!" Naruto's stomach suddenly growls, and the blond growls, making a face. Sakura frowns, then turns to Sai for an explanation.

The guy blinks. "He ate cat food."

"It was not cat food!"

"It was."

"No, it wasn't!"

"Naruto, seriously?"

"Sai bought me the wrong food!"

Sai only shrugs, Naruto begins flailing. "Ugh!" He says, stomaching the pain, "I need to go. _Ugh_. There's a toilet over there! Wait for me, okay? Then we can walk together. I refuse to not hang out with you when you're finally free, Sakura."

"Yes, yes. Just go. Please." Sakura shakes her head a bit, watches as the blond completely flees away while screaming intelligibly.

"He shits a lot today," Sai supplies and Sakura turns to him, raising both of her brows. Silence immediately falls over them then, but Sakura doesn't ponder if it's awkward or not when she sets her eyes to focus on the sky, appreciating the orange and pink colour. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and thank whoever it is that's Up There for this peaceful moment. She has needed this.

"They have pink hair," Sai suddenly says, and Sakura snaps her attention to him.

"What?"

"The impostors." Sai states blankly, the lets his eyes fall on her own set of lengthening bangs. "They have pink hair."

Sakura blinks, not knowing what to say to that.

* * *

 **Author's Note: soooooo... reviews would make me update wayy faster, you know. *gingerly pokes all of you readers***


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